When Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer turned up with a large entourage in tow to Adobe’s San Francisco offices for a (not so) secret meeting with Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen, the rumor mill went wild.
After New York Times reporter Nick Bilton wrote a detailed article on a possible acquisition of Adobe, Adobe stocks rose 12 percent by the end of trade Thursday. While the rumors are yet to be confirmed officially be either party, analysts are saying ‘who cares?’ whether they are true or not. Microsoft and Adobe are a marriage made in heaven.
At present, mobile web, which is tagged as being the web of the future, will be run off Google’s Android, or Apple iPhones, or features developed under the HTML5 umbrella, none of which offer a piece of the lucrative pie to Adobe of Microsoft. However together, the two may just have a product worth competing for.
The obvious complementary nature of Microsoft’s Office Suite and Adobe’s Creative Suite, both ubiquitous programs, would merge to create an indomitable force in the market. However the specter of previous regulatory hurdles regarding Microsoft’s ‘monopoly days’ may prove to be the deal’s undoing.
The Justice Department is likely to object on antitrust concerns, but given that Apple and Google now loom larger as the monopoly threats, there may be less to worry about than Microsoft thinks.
The other concern with the rumor mill in full swing is that it will push Adobe shares so high, that Microsoft may opt for a joint-venture rather than an acquisition, like what happened with Yahoo.
